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'Dromedary' Indiaman (Civilian)
History For over a century, the East India Trading Companies of Europe engaged in trade with India, Asia, and the East Indies. The merchant ships they employed to carry goods to these locations came to be known as East Indiamen. As trade began to expand into the new world (the North, Central and South American colonies as well as the West Indies) a new branch of merchantman evolved to fill this role. Appropriately enough, these ships came to be known as West Indiamen. While the specifications of West Indiamen did vary, most were strong ocean going ships able to sail from Europe to the Caribbean (which meant being able to handle the Atlantic storms) with large cargo holds and respectable armaments. Like their eastern counterparts, the West Indiaman took their name more from their function rather than any one specific design. Many "Indiamen" were actually former warships put out of service or, during times of war, captured vessels of other countries carrying out the role of an Indiaman. However, there were some ships built expressly for service in a specific trade route, becoming the true Indiamen by design. The West Indiaman seen here is once such vessel, designed by the Swedish Shipwright Fredrick Chapman, to carry and aggressively defend her cargo between the New World and Europe. Being a purpose-built West Indiaman, her hull was wide with a blunt bow and a deep draught, maximizing cargo capacity. While the West Indiaman's modified frigate rig and bowsprit/jib-boom configuration (considered somewhat experimental at this point in history) did help to make her fairly maneuverable, it did little to overcome the high amount of drag the robust hull induced as she moved through water. As a result, the West Indiaman was a rather slow ship compared to ships bearing similar rigs. Therefore, West Indiamen were very well armed, even by military standards, to defend against pirates, privateers, and the navies of rival nations whom she might have difficulty escaping from otherwise. Their large guns and even larger cargo holds historically made the Indiamen simultaneously the most coveted and feared merchantmen to engage as a prize. Strategy and Use A fighting merchant, well-designed for securely moving cargo. She is the 'war-wagon' of the age of sail. Tactics With much heavier cannons than frigates of the same level, the Dromedary is a frightening opponent in the hands of a competent captain. It doesn't have as much DR on it's broadsides as a frigate, but the armor and hull have significantly superior integrity. However, what makes this ship dangerous also leaves it vulnerable. It's heavy cannons take a large amount of time to reload and improved variants do not provide anything to offset this. So it falls upon the owner to properly upgrade and make use of their buffs to overcome this or to improve the accuracy of guns to ensure that every shot counts. Variants Other variants of the Dromedary: *'Dromedary' Hellbrand Indiaman *'Dromedary' Indiaman Comparable Ships While the West Indiaman is most closely comparable to the Flute in size and purpose, she visually resembles a light Frigate, in that she is carrying nearly twice the number of guns and wears a frigate rig sail plan. Distinguishing Characteristics Elegant by merchantmen standards the West Indiaman is designed for maximum cargo efficiency, resulting in a bluff hull of unusual width. While she handles well due to her sail and rig configuration (one of the first ships to experiment with a Bowsprit/jib-boom configuration), The width and depth of the hull makes for a slightly slower vessel. To compensate this, her armament is impressive, even by naval standards. However, her smaller compliment of less-disciplined crew means she cannot fight as efficiently as a Man of War of equal size might. Sources * The ship was modeled by "Spankybus" Mignone from Chapmans plans, Plate 52 #2. * West Indiaman information * Information on various West and East India Trading Companies (see lower links) * Fredrick Chapman plans and Information (in Swedish) * East Indiaman Generic Information * Information on the history of the bowsprit/jib-boom evolution that begin in 1715 and the decline of the spirit top assemblies beginning in 1720. Category: User-Created Ships